File Under: Why Didn't I Think of That?

I think I may have just finally defrosted from my icy travels last night – and it took a whole night under warm and cozy blankets. If I could walk around New York in a Snuggie, I'd be all set! Instead, I forgot mittens yesterday and don't think my fingers have ever been so painfully frozen.

And still, I was happy the whole way, up to Columbia and back to Park Slope, even when I realized that taking the B train to 125th left me on the wrong side of Morningside Park, which may look skinny and easy to cross on the map, but is really a near-sheer climb up from the east to the west. Wind whipping, cumbersome bag on my bony shoulder, I stomped up hundreds of stairs in heels. I'm not necessarily well-prepared for this urban boot camp, but I'm getting used to it. And I like it.

At Columbia, I met with Ann Cami, an adjunct in the Developmental Psychology department who teaches about children and media – good fit. I'm endlessly fascinated with the way children see the world, how they learn and think, and how that shapes them as adults, and the program focuses on just that. What may or may not be a detriment: it doesn't prepare you for a specific career. I could combine it with my editorial background to go into children's entertainment or media literacy; of if I want to go into private practice, continue on with a doctorate in psychology.

It's a big investment that deserves more consideration. I'm feeling a renewed interest in new media and web development, and damn, I just want to work again. Do I want to, am I ready to switch over to a new path? I've said it before, but this is the first time in my life that I'm not sure of my next step – is it this first real decision that makes me an adult, finally? I keep wondering how I'll look back on this cross-roads in my life ten or twenty years from now, how each of the choices could play out: Portland or New York, editor or psychologist or teacher or writer.... When I was little, I used to tell people I was going to be a doctor and a lawyer and a writer and a veterinarian and an actress. I wish it still felt possible to do it all.

Back in Brooklyn, I went to Alchemy again (close to the subway, and hey, I like it) for some wine and food. The bartender had on a University of Puget Sound shirt, turned out to be from Washington. I told him I was from Portland, and I thought maybe we'd have a friendly fellow Northwesterners rapport. Nuh uh, he was not having it. Whatever, that's why it's PONY and WANY or some crap like that!

And proving that Portland is indeed much cooler, I came home to a link to the portland to new york Facebook group (thanks, Mike Hughes!), full of eighty-four members who "lived in Portland now living or visiting new york city and want to link with people they know." I'm going to suggest they rename it PONY. Or maybe I should start my own PONY group? This one doesn't seem very active....hmmmm. Why didn't I think of that? Perhaps it's not too late. Nope, never too late.